Pengaruh Mekanisme Gamifikasi Duolingo terhadap Student Engagement dengan Motivasi Intrinsik sebagai Variabel Mediasi (Menggunakan Metode Kuantitatif PLS-SEM)

Muhammad Athaya Aryasatya (Universitas Negeri Surabaya)
Muhammad Fajar Wahyudi Rahman (Universitas Negeri Surabaya)

Journal of Management and Creative Business
Vol. 4 No. 4 (2026): Oktober : Journal of Management and Creative Business

This study aims to examine the effect of Duolingo gamification mechanisms on student engagement and investigate the mediating role of intrinsic motivation among language-major students who use Duolingo to improve their language proficiency. A quantitative approach was employed through an online survey using purposive sampling. Data were collected from 152 eligible respondents and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 3. The results indicate that Duolingo gamification mechanisms have a positive and significant effect on student engagement (β = 0.363; p = 0.019) and intrinsic motivation (β = 0.989; p < 0.001). Intrinsic motivation also has a positive and significant effect on student engagement (β = 0.630; p < 0.001). Furthermore, intrinsic motivation significantly mediates the relationship between gamification and student engagement (β = 0.623; p < 0.001). These findings strengthen the integration of Gamification Theory and Self-Determination Theory in digital language learning and highlight intrinsic motivation as an important psychological mechanism underlying engagement.